1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a ball joint orientation device applicable to photographic equipment, in particular to a ball joint orientation device applicable to a unipod.
2. Background of the Invention
When video shooting is performed with photographic equipment, in order to reduce shaking of the photographic equipment in shooting and improve the video shooting quality, usually pods for faxing the photographic equipment are used to assist shooting, and in order to achieve all-direction shooting with the photographic equipment, people generally will choose to use pods with 360-degree rotation/swaying function; most pods implement 360-degree rotation/swaying of the photographic equipment through configuring ball joint rotation/swaying devices, the locking of which is generally achieved by applying a pressure in the direction of a sphere, while the unidirectional locking force is often not strong enough to ensure firmness, and thus the locking effect is not good.
To solve the above problem, a Chinese patent document CN201373969Y discloses a ball joint locking structure of a photography head, comprising a ball joint main body, a ball joint housing and a support seat, wherein the support seat is located in the ball joint housing; the ball joint main body is located between the support seat and the ball joint housing; the support seat can move in the axial direction of the ball joint housing under the action of an adjusting knob; inside the ball joint main body, a washer is sleeved on the ball joint main body, the inner surface of the washer being adapted to the outer surface of the ball joint main body, the washer being provided with a circle of recess outside, and two side surfaces of the recess being outward inclined surfaces; the ball joint housing is provided with a circle of bulge therein, the bulge being adapted to the recess of the washer; in the ball joint locking structure described in the above patent document, through tightly screwing the adjusting knob, the support seat bears an upward pressure, and in turn applies a pressure to the ball joint main body, and the ball joint main body at the same time applies a pressure to the washer; with the increase of the pressure on the support seat, the locking force on the ball joint main body also increases gradually; in the gradual increase process of the locking force, the two inclined surfaces of the outer-ring recess of the washer expand outward and deform, increasing the force bearing area of the ball joint main body and the washer, thereby increasing the locking force on the ball joint main body; and in the ball joint locking structure, the ball joint main body bears pressure simultaneously in the upper and lower directions, and the locking effect is better.
The ball joint locking structure described in the above patent document mainly has the following disadvantages: in the ball joint locking structure, the ball joint main body is in contact with both the washer and the support seat via its curved surface, and no matter the ball joint main body is in a rotating state or locking state, the lower end thereof is always in mutual contact with the support seat, such that in the rotating process of the ball joint main body, friction may occur between the lower end of the ball joint main body and the support seat, and after a period of use, the mutual contact curved surfaces thereof can be worn, so that the surfaces in mutual contact tend to become not smooth, which in turn results in that after the ball joint locking structure is locked, the ball joint main body cannot fully fit the support seat, clearances exist therebetween, and the locking is not firm, so that the ball joint main body is likely to shake or incline at a certain angle under the gravity action of a device connected to the upper end of the ball joint main body and in the case of touch with an external force, thereby affecting the photographing/shooting effect of the photographic equipment or leading to inaccurate photographing/shooting angle or poor reliability.